2021 Others Receiving Votes Awards: Fights of the Year
Explaining my personal criteria and enjoying how we all have such different tastes
Earlier this month, just before the final UFC event of 2021, I sent in my personal Top 5 lists for the various awards being handed out over the previous 7-10 days at UFC.com.
I was pretty set in my choices, having kept a running list all year, with my mid-year Top 5 highlighted in middle of said lists, and looked forward to seeing where my selections stacked up alongside my teammates at the UFC website.
In most instances, there was a general consensus; no categories where my picks didn’t land on the board or fell dramatically out of line with the thinking of everyone else… except for when it came to Fight of the Year.
Before getting to my personal Top 5 — only one of which made the podium (or Top 5) in the above collection — I want to share how I think about these things because clearly, we’re all a little different and that stuff excites and intrigues me.
Like with everything, there are all kinds of factors that go into my decision-making process when coming up with my selections for this particular award. They include, but are not limited to:
Competitiveness of the fight
Shifts and swings in momentum
What stakes, if any, are on the line?
Technique and skill displayed in the contest
Does it give me that ineffable feeling you get watching a really great fight?
How it ends doesn’t necessarily matter to me in that a big knockout doesn’t automatically make a fight great, the same way going the distance doesn’t diminish the excellence of an encounter either. That stuff factors into the competitiveness and shifts in momentum more than anything, and are considered when thinking about the technique and skill on display as well.
For me, five-round fights are usually going to have an edge because there is more at stake in a main event or championship fight than a bout early in the prelims or kicking off the main card, though the fight that stands out as the near-consensus Fight of the Year — Justin Gaethje vs. Michael Chandler at UFC 268 — was a three-round affair that opened the main card at Madison Square Garden.
It was my silver medalist, and the one fight in my Top 5 that actually made the Top 5 in the assembled list contained in the above tweet.
So, given that I clearly have different tastes when it comes to my personal Fights of the Year, let’s close out this year’s Others Receiving Votes Awards with a look at the four bouts from my Top 5 list that didn’t crack the Top 5 for my colleagues, and a few others that we’re all kinds of enjoyable in 2021.
TJ Dillashaw vs. Cory Sandhagen
This one took top spot for me, and it has honestly been surprising to see a great number of people favor Sandhagen’s bout with Petr Yan from UFC 267 over this one.
The bout with Yan for the interim bantamweight title was a very good fight — a crisp, technical fight carrying legit stakes — but for me, I’ll take the round-by-round closeness of this contest, the tension that grew as each minute ticked off the clock in this ultra-competitive back-and-forth that came down to the wire.
As much as I enjoyed the Yan fight, it was never in doubt — the former champion won handily, without it being an absolute blowout, if you know what I mean — whereas I would still listen to cases for either man winning this contest and feel like the arguments on both sides have merit.
Plus, this one carried a bunch of questions going in, a bunch of intrigue that just didn’t feel present in the Yan fight. Everyone was looking forward to this one when it was first booked, bummed when it got pushed back, and thrilled when they finally stepped into the Octagon in July. Somehow, the former training partners still managed to exceed expectations, teaming up to craft a masterpiece that ended with 48-47 scores across the board, Dillashaw earning the 2-1 edge.
What I’m about to say is just my opinion, just a thought that I can’t seem to shake, and I’m happy to hear that I’m all kinds of wrong:
I feel like this one isn’t getting the love it deserves because a lot of folks have no desire to give Dillashaw any kind of praise because he remains the UFC audience’s favorite pariah at present. Despite some of the biggest stars and most beloved fighters having tested positive for various substances over the years (sometimes on multiple occasions), Dillashaw is the one who has to be held to account and reminded of his sins at every turn, even though unlike the vast majority of his contemporaries that have tested positive, he actually got out in front of it, accepted his fate, and served his suspension without appeal, incident, or excuses.
Few people want to admit he’s still a world-class talent and refuse to accept that his EPO-usage was a one-time thing.
He’s the bad guy, and bad guys don’t deserve the same kind of recognition as the straight arrows everyone likes.
Charles Oliveira vs. Michael Chandler
My No. 3 fight this year was the clash for the vacant lightweight title at UFC 262 in May, where Oliveira completed his incredible journey from wunderkind to world champion.
This was a clash of divergent voyages — Oliveira having the most fights before challenging for championship gold in UFC history; Chandler getting a shot in his second UFC appearance — and fighters coming off very different wins. While Oliveira dominated Tony Ferguson in December, there was still plenty of “he can’t be the best lightweight in the world” skepticism when it came to the Brazilian, while Chandler landed a beautiful leaping left hook midway through his fight with Dan Hooker at the start of the year to establish that he was, in fact, one of the best lightweights in the world.
And then the fight itself was a series of momentum shifts — Chandler coming out of the gate quickly, stinging Oliveira and chasing a guillotine choke; “Do Bronx”responding by taking his back and hunting for a finish of his own before the former Bellator standout shifted things in his favor once more and nearly finished the fight.
Less than 20 seconds into Round 2, the fight was done — Oliveira landing a left hook of his own and smashing out the finish.
Edson Barboza vs. Shane Burgos
Edson Barboza had looked outstanding since moving to featherweight, Shane Burgos has never been in a boring fight, and when they stepped into the Octagon together, it produced a wonderfully entertaining fight.
This was an ultra-competitive back-and-forth right until the every end, when Barboza connected with a right hook to the side of Burgos’ head that he initially took well before it finally registered that something was wrong, prompting him to back up into the fence and collapse.
For a three-round fight to really capture my attention and have a chance to hit my Top 5 list, it has to be like this — highly technical, close, tense, and then featuring the added bonus of a unique and memorable finish.
Merab Dvalishvili vs. Marlon Moraes
I feel like people just forgot about how ridiculous the first round of this fight was because we got another Round of the Year contender later in the evening at UFC 265.
Moraes seemingly had Dvalishvili dead to rights early in the contest, putting him on shaky footing and chasing his across the cage, hunting for the finish. Somehow, the Georgian survived, and once he regained his senses, the tables turned. Now Moraes was gassed, having emptied his tank trying to secure the victory, and Dvalishvili put it on him, nearly putting him out with ground-and-pound late in the first.
The second was one-sided, “The Machine” beating down the Brazilian until the fight was mercifully halted late in the round but the first five minutes were a tale of two fights, featuring the type of gigantic shift in momentum that sticks with me… and few others, apparently.
This was my personal No. 5 selection for 2021 and a fitting inclusion here as it was relegated to Honorable Mention status everywhere else I’ve seen these lists.
Pedro Munhoz vs. Jimmie Rivera
One more I want to shout out because it too feels like it has been lost in the sea of terrific fights and memorable moments that have transpired since the end of February.
These two had fought five years and change earlier, combining for an effort that ended with Rivera earning a split decision victory. Since then, both emerged as divisional stalwarts, with Munhoz holding onto his position in the bantamweight hierarchy a little longer than his contemporary from Jersey. When they ran it back in February, they picked up where they left off in São Paulo in November 2015, locking into another competitive three-round clash where they get after it from the outset and stayed on it until the end.
I’m always going to favor technical clashes like this over wild brawls because they’re more my taste, and I prefer watching elite competitors try to make adjustments and the cat-and-mouse of it all more than wide hooks and sloppy fighting.
Just as I’m always going to shout out steady veterans that enjoy long careers and carve out a lane for themselves, I’m always going to give love to terrific fights like this that never seem to get remembered when we’re talking about the best battles of the year.